The Adivasi Chatra Sangh has once again trumped the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad in the Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee University students’ union elections, the results of which were declared late on Friday night.

Last year as well, the independent tribal students’ organisation with no political affiliation had beaten the students’ wing of the RSS in the varsity elections.

The ACS won four of the five seats this year.

“Last time we had won three of the five. This time we have won four,” ACS president Sushil Oraon pointed out on Saturday.

The ACS won the vice-president, secretary, joint secretary and deputy secretary posts. The ABVP won the post of president. The victory margins ranged between six votes and 339 votes.

Arvind Lakra (950 votes) was elected deputy secretary beating his ABVP challenger Ayush (944 votes) in the closest contest. Amandeep Munda of the ACS won the post of secretary with the highest margin of 339 votes. He got 1,135 votes while his nearest rival, ABVP candidate Anuj Pahan, got 742 votes.

Returning officer Ajay Choudhary said it was hard-fought election with no quarter given.

“The contest was very close. After declaration of every result, demand of recounting was raised for the candidate who got defeated. Due to this, the final result could only be declared late night around 11.30pm,” Choudhary said, laughing.

The victory comes as sweet revenge for the ACS, which won 22 seats in the recently held Ranchi University students’ union election whereas the ABVP romped home with 65 seats. The DSPMU campus is a stone’s throw from the postgraduate campus of Ranchi University.

ABVP organising secretary Yagywalkya Shukla, however, did not see it as defeat.

“My number of seats in the union is the same. This time we have won president’s seat and last time we had won the secretary seat. We lost two seats with thin margins. Thus, we are not at loss,” Shukla said.